Michael Bolton, Will You Marry Me?

It's not every day that a Grammy-winning pop star comes to Waterford but hearts were all aflutter last night when Michael Bolton came to Waterford Public Library for an extended question and answer session as part of a promotional tour for his new book, "The Soul of it All."

Bolton, who is a Connecticut native, said that if he were to rename his book it would probably be called, "I have no plan B." Even in the leanest of times when he was trying to scratch out a living to support his wife and three children playing in a heavy metal band at Toad's Place in New Haven, he always believed he would make it in the end. 

"That was the really brutal part of the climb," he said. The fact that people in the music business kept telling him, "you have something very commercially viable in your voice," was the "cup of water in the desert," that kept him going—and it only took him 18 years of trying before he had a hit.  

Bolton's book is full of intimate revelations about everything from losing his virginity to dealing with panty-hurling groupies, from singing jingles (his is the voice that sings "The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup") to singing arias with Pavarotti.

At Waterford Public Library, he was equally open and answered questions about everything from his hair cut to his stint on Dancing With the Stars. The evening ranged from the comedic—Bolton does a dead-on impression of Rodney Dangerfield—to what his religious beliefs are and how he explains heaven to his children. 

Perhaps the bluntest question of the night came from a woman asked what it's like to go from pop stardom to "Where have you been?" Apparently, that's something that comes up as a frequent topic of conversation when Bolton gets together with friends such as Prince and Rod Stewart. Bolton said that to get Top 40 radio play these days, you have to be 22 or dress like Lady Gaga, and no pop star from the 1980s meets that criteria. 

"I accept that's the cycle. Fortunately, for a lot of us, we had such an intense amount of air time that you wind up being part of the fabric of music," he said. "Young artists don't get album sales [today] because of downloads. I can say, for young artists, it will be harder to make a living as an artist. I feel fortunate I could." 

Bolton continues to tour worldwide, and he's always happy to play the hits that made him famous. Asked whether he ever tires of playing the same songs over and over, he said he knows that's what the audience wants and if he gets bored, he can always rearrange the music to keep things fresh. 

Of all the questions he was asked last night, the most forward of all was a marriage proposal. For the record, no nuptials are in the offing.